Read in 2012

For the past few years, my target has been to read one book each week on average (not including manuscripts I edit or children's books I read to my children). I'm short by 6 this year, and I'm happy enough with that. Here are the books that I've read in 2012 (copy pasted from my Goodreads record):

1. And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie
2. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, Alexander McCall Smith
3. Laughing Gas, PG Wodehouse
4. Stories (an anthology), Neil Gaiman
5. Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success, Claire Shipman & Katty Kay
6. 1515, Faisal Tehrani
7. Animal Farm, George Orwell
8. Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki & Sharon Lechter
9. The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins
10. Love & Dr Devon, Alan Titchmarsh
11. Poke The Box, Seth Godin
12. Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, John Wood
13. The Devil You Know, Louise Bagshawe
14. Food For Thought, Philip J Romano
15. Suu Phea, Abu Hassan Morad
16. Mengapa Rasulullah Tidak Pernah Sakit, Dr Adi Hashman
17. Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World, Zig ZIglar
18. Gifted, Nikita Lalwani
19. Snow, Orhan Pamuk
20. Indahnya Hidup Tanpa Derita, Noor Laila Aniza Zakaria
21. In the Footsteps of the Prophet, Tariq Ramadan
22. Permata Aurorius, Ahmad Patria Abdullah
23. The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag, Alan Bradley
24. Divided Kingdom, Rupert Thomson
25. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
26. The Book of Tomorrow, Cecilia Ahern
27. 100 Kisah Kehidupan, Zakaria Sungib
28. I Want to be a Writer, Ummu Hani Abu Hassan
29. Noorah, Ummu Hani Abu Hassan
30. Googled, Ken Auletta
31. Travelog Haji, Muhd Kamil Ibrahim
32. Panduan Ibadah Haji, Umrah & Ziarah (TH)
33. The Foundling, Georgette Heyer
34. Soal Jawab Ibadah Haji & Umrah (TH)
35. Nat Geo Amazing
36. 50 Tip Motivasi Haji, Muhd Kamil Ibrahim
37. Haji Muda, Ridzwan Bakar
38. Catatan Penglipur Lara Sang Majistret, Zabidi Mohamed
39. The Footprints of God, George Iles
40. Pecah, Khairulnizam Bakeri
41. From My Sisters' Lips, Na'ima B. Roberts
42. Next, Michael Crichton
43. Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, Premilla Mohanlall
44. The Help, Kathrynn Stockett
45. Mr Mulliner Speaking, PG Wodehouse
46. The Qur'an and I, Anas Zubedy

I'm not into writing book reviews I suppose, but occasionally I would feel like saying a thing or two about a book (not quite a review, just some thoughts) like the previous post on The Help.

Happy new year, by the way, and hope we'll all be enriched by the books we are going to read next year :)

Read more...

Reading list Jan-Aug 2010

My personal target is to read 52 books a year (one per week). Let's see how I've fared up to August (see my list below). 30 books in 8 months, equivalent to 45 books in 12 months, so looks like I might fall short of my target if I don't increase my pace. Since I also want to vary my reading between fiction and non-fiction (fiction will exceed non-fiction, but by how much), BM and BI (BI will exceed BM, but by how much), let me try and break down these 30 books into these simple categories.

FI 17
FM 8
NI 3
NM 2

Woops, looks like I haven't been doing too well (in terms of varieties), I'm too heavily prone to English fictions. 25 fictions vs 5 non-fictions (!) and 20 BI vs 10 BM. Hmm... I guess I read more for entertainment rather than for general knowledge. By the way, the numbers 1 to 5 out of 5 given besides the books' title, author, and reading period is my personal rating.


30. The Automatic Grammatizer & Other Stories by Roald Dahl (30-31 Aug 2010) 3/5 FI
29. Kita Hanya di Seberang Jalan (28-29 Aug 2010) 4/5 FM
28. Step on a Crack by James Patterson (21-22 Aug 2010) 3/5 FI
27. The Witch of Portobello by Paolo Coelho (3-7 Aug 2010) 4/5 FI
26. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (27-28 Jul 2010) 5/5 NI
25. Jaja & Din by Noor Suraya (18 -24 Jul 2010) 2/5 FM
24. M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman (14 - 18 Jul 2010) 3/5 FI
23. Salina by A. Samad Said (10 - 15 Jul 2010) 1/5 FM
22. Detektif Bertudung Hitam by Bahruddin Bekri (5 - 10 Jul 2010) 3/5 FM
21. Strangers and Lovers Revisited by Robert Raymer (4 - 10 Jul 2010) 3/5 FI
20. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (1-4 Jul 2010) 3/5 FI
19. Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie (29 Jun - 1 Jul 2010) 2/5 FI
18. CSI NY - Deluge by Stuart M Kaminsky (26-18 Jun 2010) 3/5 FI
17. By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paolo Coelho (14-15 Jun 2010) 3/5 FI
16. The Regatta Mystery & Other Stories by Agatha Christie (12-13 Jun 2010) 3/5 FI
15. Sinergi by Hilal Asyraf (1-2 Jun 2010) 2/5 FM
14. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (28-30 May 2010) 4/5 FI
13. Inspector Singh Investigates: A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul by Shamini Flint (26 May 2010) 3/5 FI
12. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell (13 - 28 May 2010) 4/5 NI
11. Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint (8 - 11 May 2010) 3/5 FI
10. Dark Alchemy by Jack Dann & Garner Dozois (17 Apr - 1 May 2010) 3/5 FI
9. Wang, Anda dan Islam by Zaharuddin Abd Rahman (10 Apr - 5 May 2010) 3/5 NM
8. Perindu Pelangi by Siti Munirah A Rashid (10 - 11 Apr 2010) 5/5 FM
7. Dingin Salju Indiana by Nurulsham Saidin (6 - 9 Apr 2010) 3/5 FM
6. Business Stripped Bare: The Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur by Richard Branson (25 Mar - 5 Apr 2010) 4/5 NI
5. Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult (3 - 15 Mar 2010) 3/5 FI
4. Perubatan Islam dan Bukti Sains Moden by Dr Danial Zainal Abidin (14 Feb - 23 Mar 2010) 2/5 NM
3. The Dark Tower 2: The Drawing of Three by Stephen King (1 - 12 Feb 2010) 3/5 FI
2. Manikam Kalbu by Faisal Tehrani (23 - 29 Jan 2010) 3/5 FM
1. PS I Love You by Cecilia Ahern (2 - 4 Jan 2010) 4/5 FI

Read more...